#2 Movie epic you could watch over forever?? The Wind That Shakes the Barley

Nice. I liked that movie, unfortunately it was on St. Patrick's day. I will need to watch it sober some time.

It is one of the few movies that actually takes a serious look at the subject and deals with the matter. It is far, far better than Neil Jordan's 'Michael Collins' in that regard which tends to buy into the hagiography that at times surrounds Collins. Iroinically it's made by an Englishman.

As I understand it, he's a Trotskyist who tends to have anti-establishment themes. I also really enjoyed his Spanish Civil War film Land and Freedom which owes a lot to Orwell's Homage to Catalonia.

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"A riddle or the cricket's cryIs to doubt a fit reply." - William Blake

1 Movie you never want to see again??It's a wonderful Life#2 Movie epic you could watch over forever??Maltese Falcon#3 Movie that youd make your ex watch haha...??Flash Dance#4 Movie that you need the excuse of your nephews and nieces to watch with you???Fantasia#5 Movie for when you need to cry and you just can't get it out??Wizard of Oz#6 Movie so old you got to blow the dust off but you just love it??Viva Las Vegas

Not to sound like a broken record, "ain't an epic." Not by a really, really, really, really long shot.

scamandrius we say that word here to mean "really good" fierce!!! epic!!! so a movie that you loved would be epic to you.If i could edit it i would change it to fierce but edit has a time limit on it.

In that case, the proper slang usage would be EPIC!. Just have to remember that epic can be a description of a type of film and that usage has been around a lot longer than the current slang usage of the word.

In that case, the proper slang usage would be EPIC!. Just have to remember that epic can be a description of a type of film and that usage has been around a lot longer than the current slang usage of the word.

Why are you following me round threads trying to get my attention all the time??? Im not interested in anything you got to say so don't waist your time. Once someone gets in my face and don't apolagise after. I never believe anything they have got to say after that. There words are worthless if they can't manage one of the most important ones. Theres something for you to remember!!!

#5 Movie for when you need to cry and you just can't get it out??Wizard of Oz

lolOlol i haven't seen that one. Reason is that all the gay blokes i know watch it every year!!!! and that put me off because they sing that and Julie Andrews Sound of Music all the time!!! and it does my head in haha....

In that case, the proper slang usage would be EPIC!. Just have to remember that epic can be a description of a type of film and that usage has been around a lot longer than the current slang usage of the word.

Why are you following me round threads trying to get my attention all the time??? Im not interested in anything you got to say so don't waist your time. Once someone gets in my face and don't apolagise after. I never believe anything they have got to say after that. There words are worthless if they can't manage one of the most important ones. Theres something for you to remember!!!

Sigh, there is a demotivational poster that would tie in Pulp Fiction, proper use of English, the word epic, and paranoia.

I saw The Gangs of New York the other night. Great movie. Scorsese is, as usual, a cinematic genius.

Visually, it was awesome.

Storywise, Cameron Diaz's character was superfluous, at best, and the subplot love triangle weighed the rest of the story down. Leo di Caprio had the worse accent since Kevin Costner's Robin of Locksley.

And don't get me started on the overuse of the Prayer to St. Michael, which wasn't composed until some 30 years after the events depicted in the film.

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"Hearing a nun's confession is like being stoned to death with popcorn." --Abp. Fulton Sheen

I saw The Gangs of New York the other night. Great movie. Scorsese is, as usual, a cinematic genius.

Visually, it was awesome.

Storywise, Cameron Diaz's character was superfluous, at best, and the subplot love triangle weighed the rest of the story down. Leo di Caprio had the worse accent since Kevin Costner's Robin of Locksley.

And don't get me started on the overuse of the Prayer to St. Michael, which wasn't composed until some 30 years after the events depicted in the film.

My wife DVR-ed ARARAT for me yesterday. I caught about half of it earlier and knew I wanted to view the entire film. It appeared to be rather complex, but well done. We'll see tonight or tomorrow (after she makes me some popcorn).

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"Religion is a neurobiological illness and Orthodoxy is its cure." - Fr. John S. Romanides

I've been back into westerns lately but newer ones this time. (I already went through my Wayne/Eastwood days.)I really liked Seraphim Falls but how can you get two non-Americans to try and pull off old west accents? Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan were painful to listen to; thankfully there was minimal speaking.Also recently watched Wild Bill because I love Jeff Bridges. It may be full of historical inaccuracies and classic 90's over-the-top film making but I was entertained the whole time.Next on my list is The Missing with Tommy Lee Jones and then Dead Man with Mr. Depp.

And I'm taking suggestions.

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Authentic zeal is not directed towards anything but union in Christ, or against anything but our own fallenness.

I've been back into westerns lately but newer ones this time. (I already went through my Wayne/Eastwood days.)I really liked Seraphim Falls but how can you get two non-Americans to try and pull off old west accents? Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan were painful to listen to; thankfully there was minimal speaking.Also recently watched Wild Bill because I love Jeff Bridges. It may be full of historical inaccuracies and classic 90's over-the-top film making but I was entertained the whole time.Next on my list is The Missing with Tommy Lee Jones and then Dead Man with Mr. Depp.

Dunno how far your sensibilities go, but Deadwood remains one of the best TV series ever and probably one of the best works in the English language for some time. But it is very graphic in every way without in my opinion ever being gratuitous. Still, can help but to recommend it, even to the most pious of Christians. But even secular folks pass on it simply for its language. Which I cannot imagine, some of the most beautiful lines I've heard my tongue in a long time. That is not to bring in the sexual element. It is a fierce and poetic realism.

There's always No Country for Old Men, but you probably have seen it.

There Will be Blood

TV series Firefly followed by the film Serenity

What constitues a Western, I tend to look on rather liberally.

Missed it at the week it was that the "art house theater" but Meek's Cutoff looks to be great. Waiting for it on DVD.

You say newer, but have you seen the classics like High Noon?\

Again depending on your sensibilities: Brokeback Mountain.

That is all I have off the top of my head. The Western genre is not my wheelhouse.

I've been back into westerns lately but newer ones this time. (I already went through my Wayne/Eastwood days.)I really liked Seraphim Falls but how can you get two non-Americans to try and pull off old west accents? Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan were painful to listen to; thankfully there was minimal speaking.Also recently watched Wild Bill because I love Jeff Bridges. It may be full of historical inaccuracies and classic 90's over-the-top film making but I was entertained the whole time.Next on my list is The Missing with Tommy Lee Jones and then Dead Man with Mr. Depp.

Dunno how far your sensibilities go, but Deadwood remains one of the best TV series ever and probably one of the best works in the English language for some time. But it is very graphic in every way without in my opinion ever being gratuitous. Still, can help but to recommend it, even to the most pious of Christians. But even secular folks pass on it simply for its language. Which I cannot imagine, some of the most beautiful lines I've heard my tongue in a long time. That is not to bring in the sexual element. It is a fierce and poetic realism.

There's always No Country for Old Men, but you probably have seen it.

There Will be Blood

TV series Firefly followed by the film Serenity

What constitues a Western, I tend to look on rather liberally.

Missed it at the week it was that the "art house theater" but Meek's Cutoff looks to be great. Waiting for it on DVD.

You say newer, but have you seen the classics like High Noon?\

Again depending on your sensibilities: Brokeback Mountain.

That is all I have off the top of my head. The Western genre is not my wheelhouse.

I've only been exposed to Broken Flowers but I thought that movie was amazing. Slowing moving, beautiful? Yeah that'll do just fine Sir! I'd put There Will Be Blood in the slow moving-beautiful genre.

I've heard too many good things about Deadwood to not have checked it out yet. I'll need to add DVD's back to my netflix sub so I can get it. Plus its on my list of places to get to this summer if I can get the time off.

Western for me is really anything set early 1800's to early 1900's in America, predominantly in the west. Doesn't have to be the classic western style though. I'm open to oldies I haven't seen (such as High Noon) and the less traditional such as Brokeback (Ehh, was overrated). I can't believe I missed High Noon, I guess that should've come right after Springfield Rifle for me. Plus Gary Cooper kills it in The Fountainhead.

Thanks orthonorm, you've provided a good couple weeks of stuff. Can I tattle on you to God when I miss my prayer rule?What is your wheelhouse?

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Authentic zeal is not directed towards anything but union in Christ, or against anything but our own fallenness.

I've been back into westerns lately but newer ones this time. (I already went through my Wayne/Eastwood days.)I really liked Seraphim Falls but how can you get two non-Americans to try and pull off old west accents? Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan were painful to listen to; thankfully there was minimal speaking.Also recently watched Wild Bill because I love Jeff Bridges. It may be full of historical inaccuracies and classic 90's over-the-top film making but I was entertained the whole time.Next on my list is The Missing with Tommy Lee Jones and then Dead Man with Mr. Depp.

Dunno how far your sensibilities go, but Deadwood remains one of the best TV series ever and probably one of the best works in the English language for some time. But it is very graphic in every way without in my opinion ever being gratuitous. Still, can help but to recommend it, even to the most pious of Christians. But even secular folks pass on it simply for its language. Which I cannot imagine, some of the most beautiful lines I've heard my tongue in a long time. That is not to bring in the sexual element. It is a fierce and poetic realism.

There's always No Country for Old Men, but you probably have seen it.

There Will be Blood

TV series Firefly followed by the film Serenity

What constitues a Western, I tend to look on rather liberally.

Missed it at the week it was that the "art house theater" but Meek's Cutoff looks to be great. Waiting for it on DVD.

You say newer, but have you seen the classics like High Noon?\

Again depending on your sensibilities: Brokeback Mountain.

That is all I have off the top of my head. The Western genre is not my wheelhouse.

I've only been exposed to Broken Flowers but I thought that movie was amazing. Slowing moving, beautiful? Yeah that'll do just fine Sir! I'd put There Will Be Blood in the slow moving-beautiful genre.

I've heard too many good things about Deadwood to not have checked it out yet. I'll need to add DVD's back to my netflix sub so I can get it. Plus its on my list of places to get to this summer if I can get the time off.

Western for me is really anything set early 1800's to early 1900's in America, predominantly in the west. Doesn't have to be the classic western style though. I'm open to oldies I haven't seen (such as High Noon) and the less traditional such as Brokeback (Ehh, was overrated). I can't believe I missed High Noon, I guess that should've come right after Springfield Rifle for me. Plus Gary Cooper kills it in The Fountainhead.

Thanks orthonorm, you've provided a good couple weeks of stuff. Can I tattle on you to God when I miss my prayer rule?What is your wheelhouse?

I think the Western genre has a certain conglomeration of themes that can place it outside a specific time and place and let's not forget that the great Samurai films had an enormous impact on the development of American Westerns (often directed by German film makers) and the so-called Spaghetti Western. And that a lotta Sci-fi are westerns in space.

I tossed Brokeback in there cause it has to be mentioned. Over-rated for sure, but important nonetheless.

If you haven't check out some of the earliest classics in the Western genre, I think you will be well surprised by their quality and how they hold up. A lot of innovative stuff was done in them, again often by German filmakers (Lang for instance) who left before things went nutz after the Weimar Republic. (Berlin was the film capital of the world at the time.) Some of those films were a great source for some of the directorial style elements which became emblematic for the Renaissance of 70's American film.

Glad you are open to Deadwood. Milch originally pitched it as a series set in Roman just after the time of Christ dealing with Roman city police. The series was going to open with St. Paul being taken to his death.

HBO was already in planning for the production of Rome so Milch had to "relocate" his idea. And being a genius (I truly mean this and do not use it lightly) put in the last American gold rush.

Milch is a big fan of St. Paul and it comes through in Deadwood. But Milch's intent in both his pitched series about Roman police and Deadwood was to explore the notion that a single idea is what brings persons together always with opposing forces working against and with each other to form a community.

In the Roman series, that idea would have been the Gospel.In Deadwood, it is gold.

Also in Deadwood, Milch turns to explore the very Western notion of freedom and how personal violence without much outside authority vs. institutional violence with any outside authority differ in degree and quality.

Also, like Flannery O'Connor he meditates on the shocking and violent nature of grace occurring under the most unexpected circumstances.

Any way, I'll stop babbling.

If you are open to the Japanese work which informed the American Western and then was informed by the American Western. I can give a long list of those worth watching. I don't recommend stuff just for film history nerdom, but stuff that holds up.

When it comes to Westerns, I really enjoy the spaghettis. Outside of Leone's films, the genre verges on the trashy side, but I love it all the same. Some favorites:

DjangoA Bullet for the GeneralThe Great SilenceCompaneros

Funny you mentioned Leone. I'm currently reading "Once Upon a Time in Italy: the films of sergio leone" by Prof Christopher Freyling. Highly recommend it, even if i'm not a huge fan of the genre.

Last film watched: "Magnum Force" and "Play Misty for Me". Clint's the man!

"Play misty for me" makes me nostalgic for what seemed like a simpler, more laid back, less politically correct time of the late 60's early 70's.

Anyone recommend other Eastwood films? Haven't seen too many.

Really I think Eastwood is a terrible film maker and was never a decent actor. He had the looks and charisma and wooden personality for the laconic roles he had to play then the clout following his Western grind.

IMHO the best film he was in was High Plains Drifter that ain't one of the "classics" where he is among a stellar group of other actors. But you have probably already seen it.

It is iconic. And bends the genre a little. Too many references to it in pop culture, especially in film and music to ignore.

Samurai westerns like Shanghai Noon? I was looking more westerns set in the west but I understand what you're saying in regards to space and/or samurai westerns. The Last Samurai I think is a good example even if I disdain Tom Cruise. (As an actor; could care less about his craziness)

Well, wow, you've definitely have me running out to try and see Deadwood. I love a series with good layers and it sounds like Milch had a well thought out vision. The Rome series you're talking about was on British HBO, yes? Do you know if it ended up being anything like you described below? I kind of wince at the thought of HBO trying to do St. Paul.

And I'd have to agree that Eastwood films can be a bit of a let down. That's how I felt about Unforgiven. Maybe just expected too much. Fist Full of Dollars I liked though. As far as his film making, Gran Turino >>> Flags of our Fathers/Letters From Iwo Jima. Both those last two were horrible I thought.

« Last Edit: June 17, 2011, 11:59:11 AM by CBGardner »

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Authentic zeal is not directed towards anything but union in Christ, or against anything but our own fallenness.

Samurai westerns like Shanghai Noon? I was looking more westerns set in the west but I understand what you're saying in regards to space and/or samurai westerns. The Last Samurai I think is a good example even if I disdain Tom Cruise. (As an actor; could care less about his craziness)

Well, wow, you've definitely have me running out to try and see Deadwood. I love a series with good layers and it sounds like Milch had a well thought out vision. The Rome series you're talking about was on British HBO, yes? Do you know if it ended up being anything like you described below? I kind of wince at the thought of HBO trying to do St. Paul.

And I'd have to agree that Eastwood films can be a bit of a let down. That's how I felt about Unforgiven. Maybe just expected too much. Fist Full of Dollars I liked though. As far as his film making, Gran Turino >>> Flags of our Fathers/Letters From Iwo Jima. Both those last two were horrible I thought.

Rome was nothing like what Milch pitched. If you are a Classics nerd, then you will like it for that reason alone. They get a lot of stuff right. Also it was the largest TV set ever constructed.

But unlike Deadwood much of the vulgarity in Rome was purely gratuitous and merely there to scintillate.

The actor who played Julius Caesar was fantastic as was the actor who played the young Augustine.

Schlock through and through though. I enjoyed it but just winced a lot at the acting and gratuity.

Wouldn't recommend it to anyone, unless I knew their tastes in film and TV well.

The original Trilogy, non-special edition, worth it even if it is a laserdisc transfer.

Star Wars?

Of course! I subscribe to the idea that there's only one movie trilogy that can be mentioned in this manner (and it ain't LotR [which had it's good points and Return of the King did deserve that best picture oscar] or Godfather). That said, there's only one book trilogy worthy of being called "the Trilogy" and it ain't any of the Star Wars (or Godfather).

EDIT: though looking up and seeing where my post was nested I suppose in context I could have been referring to the "Man With No Name" trilogy

« Last Edit: June 17, 2011, 05:35:38 PM by FormerReformer »

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"Funny," said Lancelot, "how the people who can't pray say that prayers are not answered, however much the people who can pray say they are." TH White

Of course! I subscribe to the idea that there's only one movie trilogy that can be mentioned in this manner (and it ain't LotR [which had it's good points and Return of the King did deserve that best picture oscar] or Godfather). That said, there's only one book trilogy worthy of being called "the Trilogy" and it ain't any of the Star Wars (or Godfather).

Oh there is a great bit about that "trilogy", but I fear it would stretch the bounds propriety here. *sigh*

Friend said there was a film about high school wrestling starring Paul Giamatti.

Obviously a must see . . .

Well, not so much. Great cast of character actors from Amy Ryan to Jeffrey Tambor. And of course the character actor who can actually play a lead and still act while doing it, Giamatti.

The film is rather flat in pacing. None of the characters are very sympathetic. Both Tambor and Ryan are not used to their potential. The film tries to marry two (maybe three) genres of film and does a poor job at it.

The wrestling sequences are not science fiction, which is good. Giamatti can do no wrong, so he redeems much of the film.

The unpredictable ending is predictable because the film clearly wants to break genre and fails at doing so in a believable or entertaining manner.

At least the State I wrestled in gets its props for being a powerhouse to compete in.

Maybe get it on DVD or when surfing cable or streaming when you have some time. Wouldn't recommend it strongly, unless you wrestled and are a Giamatti fan.

I like Paul Giamatti. He's like a hybrid of Chris Elliot and Richard Dreyfuss.

Selam

I loved Sideways. Every time I have wine with my mother now, when she asks what kind we should drink I always shout "No ....ing Merlot!" He also did a good John Adams on HBO. I am more of a Ben Franklin/Thomas Jefferson fan politically, but I thought he did a good John Adams.

Me too. Love both of those. Paul Giamatte.

The scene in John Adams when he presents himself to King George as ambassador is really great.

The original Trilogy, non-special edition, worth it even if it is a laserdisc transfer.

Star Wars?

Of course! I subscribe to the idea that there's only one movie trilogy that can be mentioned in this manner (and it ain't LotR [which had it's good points and Return of the King did deserve that best picture oscar] or Godfather). That said, there's only one book trilogy worthy of being called "the Trilogy" and it ain't any of the Star Wars (or Godfather).

EDIT: though looking up and seeing where my post was nested I suppose in context I could have been referring to the "Man With No Name" trilogy

PLease tell me its NOT the Matrix.... ugh... was that even a book??? Or Steig Larrson??? I know they are books haha.... but the movies are rubbish.

Of course! I subscribe to the idea that there's only one movie trilogy that can be mentioned in this manner (and it ain't LotR [which had it's good points and Return of the King did deserve that best picture oscar] or Godfather). That said, there's only one book trilogy worthy of being called "the Trilogy" and it ain't any of the Star Wars (or Godfather).

Oh there is a great bit about that "trilogy", but I fear it would stretch the bounds propriety here. *sigh*

Would it happen to be Kevin Smith's? If so, LOL just at the memory, but yes, probably not appropriate to this forum.

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"Funny," said Lancelot, "how the people who can't pray say that prayers are not answered, however much the people who can pray say they are." TH White